Tubular sleeve markers are slipped over an object for use as an identification device, and the markers may be color-coded or carry alpha-numeric indicia in order to provide the required identification information. A typical use of sleeve markers is to provide individual identification of each electrical wire in a group of wires arranged together in a harness or bundle.
One form of prior art tubular sleeve marker is made from plastic tubing cut into sleeves of the desired length. The tubing may be made of heatshrinkable or non-heatshrinkable material, depending upon the intended end use. Sleeve markers of this type usually are supplied to the customer as a package of individual sleeves, but this has a disadvantage in that a user cannot apply specific identification information to the sleeves at the time they are to be applied to an object. One solution to this problem is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,731. Flattened sleeves are carried on tines extending from a supporting spine. This construction, however, requires modified or special printing equipment to enable a user to apply alpha-numeric indicia to the sleeves and also is a relatively high cost sleeve marking system. Another prior art sleeve marker was sold in the form of a large assembly (11".times.14") consisting of two sheets of vinyl films of equal width sealed together with spaced horizontal seals to form a three-dimensional structure of long sleeves that a user was to cut into sleeves of the desired length; the product met with limited acceptance as it was cumbersome and inconvenient for a customer to use.
More recent developments are described in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 306,045 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,401 (Savagian) and Ser. No. 306,044, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,230 (Downing, Stepanski and Wirth), both owned by the assignee of this application, which disclose sleeve marker products having advantages not found with the abovementioned prior art products.